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MIT Entrance Exams From 1869 - 1870

libraries.mit.edu — The MIT libraries has a nice page up of an old entrance exam as required for freshman to enter the institute. subjects include english, geometry, algebra, and arithmetic.

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  • MikeonTV, on 10/19/2007, -9/+96Damn. I wouldn't have gotten in 100 years ago either.
    • duggiowa, on 10/19/2007, -38/+5Tard
    • pahoehoe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1MIT has changed fundamentally since the time this exam was offered. It wasn't until before the US entered WWII that MIT became a premier research university. Before then, it was only about pushing out engineers, with coursework focusing on drafting and shop classes, and little focus placed on research.
  • NoOneButMe, on 10/10/2007, -6/+28Dont suppose there's a more modern test to compare it to? Nothing in here was overly difficult (I'd forgotten most of the proofs for geometry and didnt recognize all the names, but i remember learning most/all of this in HS..)
    • KibibyteBrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14In fact, most HS math students looking to go into engineering/science/math these days could learn quite a bit more than this. This only covers up though Algebra 2 concepts at the most on the math side, and even not that far into the course if I remember correctly. Today, many high schools have a "college algebra" class that integrates Algebra 2, Trig and "Algebra 3" concepts.(basically, those concepts thought in community college and some university programs) And most offer at least a pre-calculus program if not an AP calculus up through first year college calculus. If you are lucky enough to live in a richer school district like I was, you can even take Calculus 3, Discrete Math, and Differential equations in your high school, and students do. Even some of these brilliant kids can't get into MIT these days, so the competition is much higher.
      This reminds me of a math professor in a summer calculus 3 program I took showing us the Final Exams from 1965 for calculus 3 from our school. They seemed impossibly difficult, but he made it clear to us that he'd shown them to alumni who took them and tests that we take now, and the alumni had the same response with our test. The key is that the concentrations of teaching in a class change over time. The fact is, much of the math that engineers especially use today did not even exist until slightly later than 1869, so we have come a long way in a century in terms of fundamentals of science and math.
      • theblooms, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4Diff EQ in High School???? WTF? I have a BS in Chemistry, and I didn't even take Diff EQ (though I learned some in P-Chem II to do the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle)! LOTS and LOTS of other math, though. Calc I, II, and Vector, Calc based Physics I and II, Instrumental Analysis and P-Chem I and II (Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics/Spectroscopy).

        I only needed two more classes for a minor in math: Diff EQ and Linear Algebra, but I was a senior, and so damn tired of school, I just was like, "***** It. I've been here long enough already! Give me my damn paper!"
        • KibibyteBrain, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Differential equations is one of the few classes you can take after Multivariable calculus that allow you to apply the same concepts but also is not too difficult like Real Analysis or something of the like. I think thats why my district offered it.
          That being said, I didn't take it until college, and its an essential class for physicists and engineers, obviously.(Most of the stuff we do in electrical engineering classes would be impossible without DE 1 and 2). I can't really see why chemists would need to take it. The only useful thing I could think of would be solving advanced mixing type problems, but that would be more Chemical Engineering I'd think.

          Yes, there are always classes in a program that cover other areas. Like, we only had to take basic chemistry 1 and 2. But have studied things like the chemistry of semiconductor doping and lithography in other courses.
    • vagarach, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Just today in class we were learning some stuff (bond duration) barely 20 years old, so it must be true!
    • arjung, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5did you try the english section? if "not that hard" means you know the path of the danube, then i am very impressed...
      • NoOneButMe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I knew it was a major river in Germany and vaguely remembered that in ancient Roman times it was important. So i was able to guess where it was / the direction it flew (Geography + History is useful).
  • tehbored, on 10/10/2007, -19/+2Meh. It's not that special. It certainly isn't hard, but it's not exactly the easiest thing in the world either.
  • abid786, on 10/10/2007, -3/+45The Algebra and geometry portions are really easy. The English is a little difficut though.
    • abandonedhero, on 10/10/2007, -4/+18I thought it was diffcult* too.
    • filefly, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Difficult*

      LOL, abandonedhero, you too? ;-)
    • KibibyteBrain, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Yeah, something happened to English teaching in America. A Japanese Culture professor at my school made his class take the English portion of an entrance examination for Tokyo University(Japan's most prestigious university), and no one passed it, not even our professor who had a Ph.D in a humanities subject. Sure, this is Japan's top school and students study to take this test for YEARS.(Japanese high school is based upon preparing students to take the test, thats it) But the fact is, the number of students who apply to Tokyo University who didn't grow up knowing mostly only Japanese until middle school would be negligible.
      For those of you thinking that we must be idiots for failing, mind you, the test went over English from many usage periods. It would present a line of Shakespearian poetry and ask for a grammatical error or the like. As useless as it was, I still think if the Japanese could educate their kids to master english grammar to that extend in a few years, we could do a better job in the USA.
      • sineyopitty, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Mastering grammatical rules is good and all, but it doesn't necessarily make you a proficient English speaker. Many countries focus on rote memorization of grammatical rules but hardly ever, if even that, focus on actually using the language in conversation when they teach English. I really don't think memorizing a lot of grammatical rules is that important as long as you can use a language intuitively and confidently. You may not be able to explain why people say or don't say something a certain way, but as long as you just know, that's fine for everyday usage.
    • isunktheship, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1That was the joke I believe.. but gj you have all clearly passed 1st grade.
  • gene1102, on 10/10/2007, -17/+12My brains hurtz.
    • Wargalas, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3You would have failed the spelling part of the quiz too.
    • BigCheezy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Buried for unnecessary "z" usage.
  • cbrox, on 10/10/2007, -18/+3The "tests" on that site look suspiciously created by MS Word.
    • canewediggit, on 10/10/2007, -3/+24wtf did you expect, e-papyrus?
  • DrPelham, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3A fine example of an age when maths, science, and geography (via Imperialism) were at the forefront of education. Today it would seem the excitement of such fields has been left to a select few; whether this is good or bad is left for interpretation. I would love nothing else of the masses but for a rekindling of interest in the world beyond keyboard and dinner plate (or in many cases, the drive-thru window).
    • Cerpin_Taxt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5it's an engineering/science school
      • KibibyteBrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It was one. Now MIT has a rather diverse curriculum, even though their Engineering programs still stand out nationally. They actually have a renowned Economics program.
    • Namco, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5So have you been lurking for awhile and just joined digg to comment on this story? Or is DrPelham a pretentious alter-ego?
      • crossmr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Maybe his name is Douglas Richard? my first two initials are Mr.
      • DrPelham, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1A lurker for quite some time in fact Namco, I would guess a good six months now? I've only recently (yesterday as you've seen) decided to become an active user. So to your first assumption, you are correct.
    • sirlancelot88, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Imperialist pig.
  • DiggsOnlyNeoCon, on 10/10/2007, -2/+44Does it appear to anyone else that every single portrait of an 1860s American man looks the same?
    • KibibyteBrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Neckbeards FTW! They were how the rebels distinguished themselves.
    • pdxuser, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Note to women and non-whites: don't waste your time, just look at the photo. You do not pass the test.
  • fhernand, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2I like that the equations in this Algebra test are still easier to read than the same equations typed in your favorite programming language
  • cerealjynx, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Very cool, but it almost seems more like the kind of test without a score, and instead pigeonholes your knowledge for those reading the answers.
    I only extensively looked at the English section, seems like it'd be real hard to know all those wildly different facts.
    Maybe I'm just dumb. :(
    Maybe we're ALL just dumb! :D
    • ch33sehead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Test without a score? It's an ENTRANCE EXAM. Apparently you have to pass it to get into MIT. So I would say that you definitely would get a score on it.
  • MattCairns, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4Math is easy english is hard. I prob would have failed lol.
    • justinjacobs, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Maybe if you spelled out "probably," you wouldn't have to try so hard at English.
  • UnWeave, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Won't load up :(
  • andy3109, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5aaaaaand..its down.
  • redfox2600, on 10/10/2007, -2/+30MIT server killed after 137 diggs?
    • RogerT1, on 10/10/2007, -2/+26What did you expect? Their server is from 1869...
  • weijia, on 10/10/2007, -12/+11Wait, what does the area of Massachusetts... of England or the location of Liverpool, Marseilles, Vienna, Berlin, and Oxford have anything to do with English?

    Way to be dumb MIT.
  • illusionweaver, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3All the questions seemed pretty easy, but do any of you know what the check marks on the 1st algebra problem mean?
    • Scottievm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4root
      • illusionweaver, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Ah, that makes sense, never seen it written like that before. Thanks
    • ilikevag, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Square root, if you can't figure that out I don't think that you should be saying they are easy, especially since you couldn't have solved it without knowing.
      • victorh86, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3owned
      • orca94, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Not really considering standard mathematical notation has probably changed a bit since 1869.
        • noumuon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2... not really. did you look at the notation? looks pretty basic to me...√
          • orca94, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0It's really not without the upper horizontal line, and I'm saying this as a graduate engineering student who has seen more than his fair share of notations.
      • mercurysquad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1There's also a cube-root in there, by the way.
    • capellathestar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1lawlz
  • ch33sehead, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4http://pieandhammer.com/?p=65 here's a mirror since the site is soooo slow now.

    That "English" test is more of a history test than anything. Fifth-graders could do the arithmetic test, and eighth-graders could do the algebra one. Only the geometry test had any real challenge, as it actually employed "higher" mathematics (proofs).
    • azbmr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yea... 10th graders could do those.
      (At least that is when I learned those proofs in public school.)
  • LLamaStar, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2google
    http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:Hp75hBML8ckJ:l ...
  • Namco, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8They should add an IT Infrastructure and Scalability section to the exam... cause I couldn't even get in to view the goddam tests.
  • kxhoopshooter, on 10/10/2007, -17/+4In Soviet Russia, MIT digg you
    • uscfan7690, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8That's the worst adaptation of a Soviet Russia joke I've ever seen.
    • jj9000, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5In Soviet Russia, joke ***** up you!!
  • UnWeave, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Hmmn. Well after much refreshing I got on. Agreed that on the whole it's fairly easy, though by no means all. MIT HERE I COME.
  • Scottievm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0That's pretty sweet, barring the english section, I guess I could've been an MIT student back in 1869. Though some of that arithmetic without a calculator would be difficult...I'd have to bust out my abacus.
  • johnnykash, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6@illusionweaver - the check marks = square root
    • beatleman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1@johnnykash - the "reply to this comment" button = a way to respond in such a way that the other person can actually find your response. :-)
  • spilk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+18math is hard. let's go shopping!
  • seanwyx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Remember, no calculators for the Algebra, Geometry, and Arithmetic sections.
    • noumuon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4i'll give you one billion dollars for a calculator that can give the proofs to the geometry section...
      • mercurysquad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'll take you up on that offer, give me a couple months to design it. No, seriously.
    • Sabretou, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'd love to see a steampunk calculator from 1870.
  • JasonDJ, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Teacher, can I use my calculator on this exam??
  • SuckMyDigg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Holy crap I could actually do the algebra stuff in my head! I haven't done any of that for 5 or 6 years... I don't think I could even get 1 question on a new test right...
  • victorh86, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2standardize testing in the bay area is harder than that. i wonder what it would have took to get into a regular university?
    • indiephoenix, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Passable literacy and plenty of money?
  • OneLess, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I love the second question on the second part of the English portion: "Who _is_ Count Bismarck?"
  • passedoutghost, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I didn't know English was about general knowledge of dates, etc...

    Crap! What have I been learning all these years?!
    • S1ngular1ty1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I agree, that English test was pretty dumb. Why should remembering useless facts be a factor in determining your knowledge of English?
  • cambob76, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I used to do that math. Now, years later, I have a job and I feel pretty re-un-educated. It must be nature's way.
  • anthropocentric, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4"Can we use calculators?"
  • Vexion, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3The Arithmetic exam mentions selling a house and lot for $5,790. I'm pretty sure refuting that claim is the hidden question.
    • ZenMojo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Good thing they didn't have an economics section, you'd fail once they got to inflation. :P
  • Xionbox, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Well, after doing the tests, I have to say that Algebra and Arithmetic are easy, Geometry less and English isn't!
    *But*, did anybody notice an error in the correction too? Look at the page #2 of the correction of Algebra, the corrector forgot and X after 24 (in the formula 24-32-etc.) and therefore messed up his whole calculus ... So the corrector got the wrong answer...
    I guess today's brains are better than the old ones. :P
    • noumuon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1actually, if you look at the problem, he still got the answer right. even though he omitted the x in one line he still included it when he combined the terms.
    • maccagrabme, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Only easy if you have had a modern day education! This is all slightly above GCSE level in the UK. Question is would you have passed back then without a good schooling?
  • JPOOPOO, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I wish I could travel back to those times, they would think I'm the prodigy or something
  • GeneralKickass, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3If only I was 64 years older, I could have taken that exam.
  • Yakubovich, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I don't know about the English test (I don't know most of the answers, but it would depend on the curriculum of the time), but the math tests are much easier than what you would have to know to get into MIT today. Looks like average 11th grade material to me.
  • timjbart, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7From 1876 paper,
    "We buy cloth by the yard: What unit of measure should we use if the metric system were adopted"

    Good to see you've made progress there, America.
  • sobe86, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2What part of the month of August is 7/18 minutes? What?
    • pdxuser, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I know, I was thinking, "uh, the really early part." The middle of the night on August 1. 12:00:23.333 AM. Apparently they mean 7 / 803520 of a 31-day month, though.
  • Daiken, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Wow, I found that test surprisingly easy. I guess the education system really is working.
  • MerryMortician, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That is hilarious! The English portion was easy for me. The rest of the test made me feel like a monkey staring at a wristwatch.
  • Antibland, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm going to Temple.
  • Dweed, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0"Who wrote Kenilworth-Othello-In Memoriam-The Earthly Paradise-Lycidas-The Rape of the Lock-Childe Harold-The Lady of the Lake?"

    I wonder if the answers were written on separate pieces of paper from the questions or not, because I don't know how the hell could there possibly be space to write those answers down by the questions.
  • LiveAPC420, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0LAWL, this test is so hard, I would never make it in :(
  • capellathestar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1lol, I don't even understand the questions!
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